This was a somewhat confusing but welcomed read. Compared to last weeks Labyrinths, this book was a breath of fresh air. While nothing will ever be as confusing as last weeks read, I will say this book did come a close second. The narration between Juan and Pedro was confusing and a bit hard to follow because the timeline would go back and forth, without a clear separation. For those of you who have watched the show Dark, the jumps between timelines in this book were similar to those in the show. Anyways, I found myself paying really close attention to what was being said and to who was saying it. While I was reading it, I felt like I was essentially reading short stories that had to be pieced together, kind of like a puzzle. Once I was able to piece together what was happening my final conclusion was that the book was sad. When combining the story of the people in the ghost town, the kind of person Pedro was and how Juan would never get the chance to meet his father, all made the story so sad to read about.

It was sad to think about how Juan came to Comala with the determination and promise to his mother to find his father, only to find out through the dead townspeople that he died. When I first started the book I thought it would be about a son finding closure for his childhood without his dad. However, I felt it instead became a story about loss, death and hopelessness. It seemed to me that every character was living in a state of hopelessness that resulted in their death. With Pedro he lost his childhood crush and it put him into this state of despair, which made him cause destruction to those around him and it eventually costed him his life. For Juan he lost his mother and came to the town hoping to find his father and claim his inheritance, only to find out he is dead. It seemed like whatever the characters were hoping to achieve or gain, never happened and they ended up falling into a state of utter despair. The idea that whatever hope the characters had would only resulted in loss and hopelessness, added a sense of realism to the story. It really highlighted the fact that in life not everything we hope for can be achieved and that you can go through life living only in despair.

Question to think about: By using themes of hopelessness and despair, what do you think the author trying to convey throughout the story? That life can only be full of hopelessness?